IPT 301 Reflection #3

The lesson that I observed was a math lesson where the objective was to identify and measure capacity in cups. To do this the teacher started by reading a story called, A House for Birdie. In this book it shows how certain bird houses have a certain capacity, where one bird fits well in a specific house and a different sized bird wouldn’t fit well in that same capacity. This activity helped warm the kids up to the idea about capacity. It helped them get a better understanding of what capacity is. After reading the story, the teacher had them go back to their desks to prepare for an experiment. She told them that she had brought several different containers and that they were going to find out their capacity for water. She would pour water into one container and have them estimate whether or not it would fill another container. They would then pour the water from the one container into the other container to find out. She repeated this process with them through all of the different containers. This activity helped them visually see the different capacities and estimate different capacities. It also helped prepare them for measuring capacity in cups.
I was very impressed with the behavior of the students during this lesson. They were very engaged. She held their attention throughout the read aloud by allowing them to make connections, predict what was happening and be involved with the plot of the story. While doing the experiment the students were very curious to see what would happen. She kept them involved during it by having them estimate and participate in what was happening. She kept them on their toes; they didn’t really know what was going to happen next. Their estimations showed that they were thinking about the capacity or how much each container would hold. One of the things I noticed throughout the lesson, was she always used a quiet voice. She never really raised it. She was able to maintain order by keeping students engaged, using warnings and asking for them to give her five.
I think that one of the similarities of our teaching is that we both look for ways to get students engaged. We use activities in our lessons that grab the student’s attention and interest and use strategies that help them stay motivated. She gives a lot of positive reinforcement where she thanks the students that are doing what she wants the whole class to do. One of the things that we do differently I think is she is very soft spoken and won’t raise her voice to be heard over a lot of noise. I tend to just try and get their attention by making my voice heard and then asking them to be quiet. I am very impressed with how easily she is able to get their attention and get them to be quiet. It is something that I would like to implement into my teaching.